Small Island with Large Ambitions

I don't know how many of the Gulf Islands host literary festivals -- I was a guest at Denman Island's a few years ago and heard sound poet Christian Bok give a performance I'll never forget -- but none could be as ambitious as the Galiano fest. The program lists 25 authors, including one Senator (former Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell), a quartet of Big Prize winners (Annabel Lyon, Timothy Taylor, Audrey Thomas and John Vaillant), one movie star turned novelist (Meg Tilley), Alan Twigg talking about songwriting, and much more (including Mona herself). The affair is sponsored by Galiano Island Books, a real treasure of an independent bookstore.